Around the world in 80 days

nox it was to be feared that it would burst upon them with great violence. The pilot took his precautions in advance. He reefed all sail, the pole-masts were dispensed with; all hands went forward to the bows. A single triangular sail, of strong can- vas, was hoisted as a storm-jib, so as to hold the wind from behind. Then they waited. John Bunsby had requested his passengers to go below; but this imprisonment in so narrow a space, with little air, and the boat bouncing in the gale, was far from pleasant. Neither Mr. Fogg, Fix, nor Aouda consented to leave the deck. The storm of rain and wind descended upon them to- wards eight o’clock. With but its bit of sail, the Tankadere was lifted like a feather by a wind, an idea of whose violence can scarcely be given. To compare her speed to four times that of a locomotive going on full steam would be below the truth. The boat scudded thus northward during the whole day, borne on by monstrous waves, preserving always, fortunate- ly, a speed equal to theirs. Twenty times she seemed almost to be submerged by these mountains of water which rose behind her; but the adroit management of the pilot saved her. The passengers were often bathed in spray, but they submitted to it philosophically. Fix cursed it, no doubt; but Aouda, with her eyes fastened upon her protector, whose coolness amazed her, showed herself worthy of him, and bravely weathered the storm. As for Phileas Fogg, it seemed just as if the typhoon were a part of his programme. Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 151

Up to this time the Tankadere had always held her course to the north; but towards evening the wind, veering three quarters, bore down from the north-west. The boat, now ly- ing in the trough of the waves, shook and rolled terribly; the sea struck her with fearful violence. At night the tem- pest increased in violence. John Bunsby saw the approach of darkness and the rising of the storm with dark misgivings. He thought awhile, and then asked his crew if it was not time to slacken speed. After a consultation he approached Mr. Fogg, and said, ‘I think, your honour, that we should do well to make for one of the ports on the coast.’ ‘I think so too.’ ‘Ah!’ said the pilot. ‘But which one?’ ‘I know of but one,’ returned Mr. Fogg tranquilly. ‘And that is—‘ ‘Shanghai.’ The pilot, at first, did not seem to comprehend; he could scarcely realise so much determination and tenacity. Then he cried, ‘Well—yes! Your honour is right. To Shanghai!’ So the Tankadere kept steadily on her northward track. The night was really terrible; it would be a miracle if the craft did not founder. Twice it could have been all over with her if the crew had not been constantly on the watch. Aou- da was exhausted, but did not utter a complaint. More than once Mr. Fogg rushed to protect her from the violence of the waves. Day reappeared. The tempest still raged with undimin- ished fury; but the wind now returned to the south-east. It was a favourable change, and the Tankadere again bounded 152 Around the World in 80 Days

forward on this mountainous sea, though the waves crossed each other, and imparted shocks and counter-shocks which would have crushed a craft less solidly built. From time to time the coast was visible through the broken mist, but no vessel was in sight. The Tankadere was alone upon the sea. There were some signs of a calm at noon, and these became more distinct as the sun descended toward the horizon. The tempest had been as brief as terrific. The pas- sengers, thoroughly exhausted, could now eat a little, and take some repose. The night was comparatively quiet. Some of the sails were again hoisted, and the speed of the boat was very good. The next morning at dawn they espied the coast, and John Bunsby was able to assert that they were not one hundred miles from Shanghai. A hundred miles, and only one day to traverse them! That very evening Mr. Fogg was due at Shanghai, if he did not wish to miss the steamer to Yokoha- ma. Had there been no storm, during which several hours were lost, they would be at this moment within thirty miles of their destination. The wind grew decidedly calmer, and happily the sea fell with it. All sails were now hoisted, and at noon the Tankadere was within forty-five miles of Shanghai. There remained yet six hours in which to accomplish that dis- tance. All on board feared that it could not be done, and every one—Phileas Fogg, no doubt, excepted—felt his heart beat with impatience. The boat must keep up an average of nine miles an hour, and the wind was becoming calmer ev- ery moment! It was a capricious breeze, coming from the Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 153

coast, and after it passed the sea became smooth. Still, the Tankadere was so light, and her fine sails caught the fickle zephyrs so well, that, with the aid of the currents John Bun- sby found himself at six o’clock not more than ten miles from the mouth of Shanghai River. Shanghai itself is situ- ated at least twelve miles up the stream. At seven they were still three miles from Shanghai. The pilot swore an angry oath; the reward of two hundred pounds was evidently on the point of escaping him. He looked at Mr. Fogg. Mr. Fogg was perfectly tranquil; and yet his whole fortune was at this moment at stake. At this moment, also, a long black funnel, crowned with wreaths of smoke, appeared on the edge of the waters. It was the American steamer, leaving for Yokohama at the ap- pointed time. ‘Confound her!’ cried John Bunsby, pushing back the rudder with a desperate jerk. ‘Signal her!’ said Phileas Fogg quietly. A small brass cannon stood on the forward deck of the Tankadere, for making signals in the fogs. It was loaded to the muzzle; but just as the pilot was about to apply a red-hot coal to the touchhole, Mr. Fogg said, ‘Hoist your flag!’ The flag was run up at half-mast, and, this being the sig- nal of distress, it was hoped that the American steamer, perceiving it, would change her course a little, so as to suc- cour the pilot-boat. ‘Fire!’ said Mr. Fogg. And the booming of the little can- non resounded in the air. 154 Around the World in 80 Days

CHAPTER XXII IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT FINDS OUT THAT, EVEN AT THE ANTIPODES, IT IS CONVENIENT TO HAVE SOME MONEY IN ONE’S POCKET The Carnatic, setting sail from Hong Kong at half-past six on the 7th of November, directed her course at full steam towards Japan. She carried a large cargo and a well- filled cabin of passengers. Two state-rooms in the rear were, however, unoccupied—those which had been engaged by Phileas Fogg. The next day a passenger with a half-stupefied eye, stag- gering gait, and disordered hair, was seen to emerge from the second cabin, and to totter to a seat on deck. It was Passepartout; and what had happened to him was Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 155

as follows: Shortly after Fix left the opium den, two waiters had lifted the unconscious Passepartout, and had carried him to the bed reserved for the smokers. Three hours later, pursued even in his dreams by a fixed idea, the poor fel- low awoke, and struggled against the stupefying influence of the narcotic. The thought of a duty unfulfilled shook off his torpor, and he hurried from the abode of drunkenness. Staggering and holding himself up by keeping against the walls, falling down and creeping up again, and irresistibly impelled by a kind of instinct, he kept crying out, ‘The Car- natic! the Carnatic!’ The steamer lay puffing alongside the quay, on the point of starting. Passepartout had but few steps to go; and, rush- ing upon the plank, he crossed it, and fell unconscious on the deck, just as the Carnatic was moving off. Several sailors, who were evidently accustomed to this sort of scene, car- ried the poor Frenchman down into the second cabin, and Passepartout did not wake until they were one hundred and fifty miles away from China. Thus he found himself the next morning on the deck of the Carnatic, and eagerly inhaling the exhilarating sea-breeze. The pure air sobered him. He began to collect his sense, which he found a difficult task; but at last he recalled the events of the evening before, Fix’s revelation, and the opium-house. ‘It is evident,’ said he to himself, ‘that I have been abomi- nably drunk! What will Mr. Fogg say? At least I have not missed the steamer, which is the most important thing.’ Then, as Fix occurred to him: ‘As for that rascal, I hope we are well rid of him, and that he has not dared, as he 156 Around the World in 80 Days

proposed, to follow us on board the Carnatic. A detective on the track of Mr. Fogg, accused of robbing the Bank of England! Pshaw! Mr. Fogg is no more a robber than I am a murderer.’ Should he divulge Fix’s real errand to his master? Would it do to tell the part the detective was playing. Would it not be better to wait until Mr. Fogg reached London again, and then impart to him that an agent of the metropolitan police had been following him round the world, and have a good laugh over it? No doubt; at least, it was worth considering. The first thing to do was to find Mr. Fogg, and apologise for his singular behaviour. Passepartout got up and proceeded, as well as he could with the rolling of the steamer, to the after-deck. He saw no one who resembled either his master or Aouda. ‘Good!’ muttered he; ‘Aouda has not got up yet, and Mr. Fogg has probably found some partners at whist.’ He descended to the saloon. Mr. Fogg was not there. Passepartout had only, however, to ask the purser the num- ber of his master’s state-room. The purser replied that he did not know any passenger by the name of Fogg. ‘I beg your pardon,’ said Passepartout persistently. ‘He is a tall gentleman, quiet, and not very talkative, and has with him a young lady—‘ ‘There is no young lady on board,’ interrupted the purser. ‘Here is a list of the passengers; you may see for yourself.’ Passepartout scanned the list, but his master’s name was not upon it. All at once an idea struck him. ‘Ah! am I on the Carnatic?’ Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 157

‘Yes.’ ‘On the way to Yokohama?’ ‘Certainly.’ Passepartout had for an instant feared that he was on the wrong boat; but, though he was really on the Carnatic, his master was not there. He fell thunderstruck on a seat. He saw it all now. He re- membered that the time of sailing had been changed, that he should have informed his master of that fact, and that he had not done so. It was his fault, then, that Mr. Fogg and Aouda had missed the steamer. Yes, but it was still more the fault of the traitor who, in order to separate him from his master, and detain the latter at Hong Kong, had inveigled him into getting drunk! He now saw the detective’s trick; and at this moment Mr. Fogg was certainly ruined, his bet was lost, and he himself perhaps arrested and imprisoned! At this thought Passepartout tore his hair. Ah, if Fix ever came within his reach, what a settling of accounts there would be! After his first depression, Passepartout became calmer, and began to study his situation. It was certainly not an en- viable one. He found himself on the way to Japan, and what should he do when he got there? His pocket was empty; he had not a solitary shilling, not so much as a penny. His pas- sage had fortunately been paid for in advance; and he had five or six days in which to decide upon his future course. He fell to at meals with an appetite, and ate for Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and himself. He helped himself as generously as if Japan were a desert, where nothing to eat was to be looked 158 Around the World in 80 Days

for. At dawn on the 13th the Carnatic entered the port of Yokohama. This is an important port of call in the Pacific, where all the mail-steamers, and those carrying travellers between North America, China, Japan, and the Oriental is- lands put in. It is situated in the bay of Yeddo, and at but a short distance from that second capital of the Japanese Empire, and the residence of the Tycoon, the civil Emperor, before the Mikado, the spiritual Emperor, absorbed his of- fice in his own. The Carnatic anchored at the quay near the custom-house, in the midst of a crowd of ships bearing the flags of all nations. Passepartout went timidly ashore on this so curious territory of the Sons of the Sun. He had nothing better to do than, taking chance for his guide, to wander aimlessly through the streets of Yokohama. He found himself at first in a thoroughly European quarter, the houses having low fronts, and being adorned with verandas, beneath which he caught glimpses of neat peristyles. This quarter occupied, with its streets, squares, docks, and warehouses, all the space between the ‘promontory of the Treaty’ and the river. Here, as at Hong Kong and Calcutta, were mixed crowds of all races, Americans and English, Chinamen and Dutch- men, mostly merchants ready to buy or sell anything. The Frenchman felt himself as much alone among them as if he had dropped down in the midst of Hottentots. He had, at least, one resource to call on the French and English consuls at Yokohama for assistance. But he shrank from telling the story of his adventures, intimately connect- Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 159

ed as it was with that of his master; and, before doing so, he determined to exhaust all other means of aid. As chance did not favour him in the European quarter, he penetrated that inhabited by the native Japanese, determined, if neces- sary, to push on to Yeddo. The Japanese quarter of Yokohama is called Benten, af- ter the goddess of the sea, who is worshipped on the islands round about. There Passepartout beheld beautiful fir and cedar groves, sacred gates of a singular architecture, bridg- es half hid in the midst of bamboos and reeds, temples shaded by immense cedar-trees, holy retreats where were sheltered Buddhist priests and sectaries of Confucius, and interminable streets, where a perfect harvest of rose-tinted and red-cheeked children, who looked as if they had been cut out of Japanese screens, and who were playing in the midst of short-legged poodles and yellowish cats, might have been gathered. The streets were crowded with people. Priests were pass- ing in processions, beating their dreary tambourines; police and custom-house officers with pointed hats encrusted with lac and carrying two sabres hung to their waists; soldiers, clad in blue cotton with white stripes, and bearing guns; the Mikado’s guards, enveloped in silken doubles, hauberks and coats of mail; and numbers of military folk of all ranks—for the military profession is as much respected in Japan as it is despised in China—went hither and thither in groups and pairs. Passepartout saw, too, begging friars, long-robed pil- grims, and simple civilians, with their warped and jet-black hair, big heads, long busts, slender legs, short stature, and 160 Around the World in 80 Days

complexions varying from copper-colour to a dead white, but never yellow, like the Chinese, from whom the Japanese widely differ. He did not fail to observe the curious equi- pages—carriages and palanquins, barrows supplied with sails, and litters made of bamboo; nor the women— whom he thought not especially handsome—who took little steps with their little feet, whereon they wore canvas shoes, straw sandals, and clogs of worked wood, and who displayed tight- looking eyes, flat chests, teeth fashionably blackened, and gowns crossed with silken scarfs, tied in an enormous knot behind an ornament which the modern Parisian ladies seem to have borrowed from the dames of Japan. Passepartout wandered for several hours in the midst of this motley crowd, looking in at the windows of the rich and curious shops, the jewellery establishments glittering with quaint Japanese ornaments, the restaurants decked with streamers and banners, the tea-houses, where the odorous beverage was being drunk with saki, a liquor concocted from the fermentation of rice, and the comfortable smok- ing-houses, where they were puffing, not opium, which is almost unknown in Japan, but a very fine, stringy tobacco. He went on till he found himself in the fields, in the midst of vast rice plantations. There he saw dazzling camellias ex- panding themselves, with flowers which were giving forth their last colours and perfumes, not on bushes, but on trees, and within bamboo enclosures, cherry, plum, and apple trees, which the Japanese cultivate rather for their blossoms than their fruit, and which queerly-fashioned, grinning scarecrows protected from the sparrows, pigeons, ravens, Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 161

and other voracious birds. On the branches of the cedars were perched large eagles; amid the foliage of the weeping willows were herons, solemnly standing on one leg; and on every hand were crows, ducks, hawks, wild birds, and a multitude of cranes, which the Japanese consider sacred, and which to their minds symbolise long life and prosper- ity. As he was strolling along, Passepartout espied some vio- lets among the shrubs. ‘Good!’ said he; ‘I’ll have some supper.’ But, on smelling them, he found that they were odour- less. ‘No chance there,’ thought he. The worthy fellow had certainly taken good care to eat as hearty a breakfast as possible before leaving the Carnatic; but, as he had been walking about all day, the demands of hunger were becoming importunate. He observed that the butchers stalls contained neither mutton, goat, nor pork; and, knowing also that it is a sacrilege to kill cattle, which are preserved solely for farming, he made up his mind that meat was far from plentiful in Yokohama— nor was he mistaken; and, in default of butcher’s meat, he could have wished for a quarter of wild boar or deer, a partridge, or some quails, some game or fish, which, with rice, the Jap- anese eat almost exclusively. But he found it necessary to keep up a stout heart, and to postpone the meal he craved till the following morning. Night came, and Passepartout re-entered the native quarter, where he wandered through the streets, lit by vari-coloured lanterns, looking on at the 162 Around the World in 80 Days

dancers, who were executing skilful steps and boundings, and the astrologers who stood in the open air with their telescopes. Then he came to the harbour, which was lit up by the resin torches of the fishermen, who were fishing from their boats. The streets at last became quiet, and the patrol, the offi- cers of which, in their splendid costumes, and surrounded by their suites, Passepartout thought seemed like ambassa- dors, succeeded the bustling crowd. Each time a company passed, Passepartout chuckled, and said to himself: ‘Good! another Japanese embassy departing for Europe!’ Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 163

CHAPTER XXIII IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT’S NOSE BECOMES OUTRAGEOUSLY LONG The next morning poor, jaded, famished Passepartout said to himself that he must get something to eat at all hazards, and the sooner he did so the better. He might, in- deed, sell his watch; but he would have starved first. Now or never he must use the strong, if not melodious voice which nature had bestowed upon him. He knew several French and English songs, and resolved to try them upon the Japa- nese, who must be lovers of music, since they were for ever pounding on their cymbals, tam-tams, and tambourines, and could not but appreciate European talent. It was, perhaps, rather early in the morning to get up a concert, and the audience prematurely aroused from their slumbers, might not possibly pay their entertainer with coin bearing the Mikado’s features. Passepartout therefore 164 Around the World in 80 Days

decided to wait several hours; and, as he was sauntering along, it occurred to him that he would seem rather too well dressed for a wandering artist. The idea struck him to change his garments for clothes more in harmony with his project; by which he might also get a little money to satisfy the immediate cravings of hunger. The resolution taken, it remained to carry it out. It was only after a long search that Passepartout discov- ered a native dealer in old clothes, to whom he applied for an exchange. The man liked the European costume, and ere long Passepartout issued from his shop accoutred in an old Japanese coat, and a sort of one-sided turban, faded with long use. A few small pieces of silver, moreover, jingled in his pocket. Good!’ thought he. ‘I will imagine I am at the Carnival!’ His first care, after being thus ‘Japanesed,’ was to enter a tea-house of modest appearance, and, upon half a bird and a little rice, to breakfast like a man for whom dinner was as yet a problem to be solved. ‘Now,’ thought he, when he had eaten heartily, ‘I mustn’t lose my head. I can’t sell this costume again for one still more Japanese. I must consider how to leave this country of the Sun, of which I shall not retain the most delightful of memories, as quickly as possible.’ It occurred to him to visit the steamers which were about to leave for America. He would offer himself as a cook or servant, in payment of his passage and meals. Once at San Francisco, he would find some means of going on. The diffi- culty was, how to traverse the four thousand seven hundred Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 165

miles of the Pacific which lay between Japan and the New World. Passepartout was not the man to let an idea go begging, and directed his steps towards the docks. But, as he ap- proached them, his project, which at first had seemed so simple, began to grow more and more formidable to his mind. What need would they have of a cook or servant on an American steamer, and what confidence would they put in him, dressed as he was? What references could he give? As he was reflecting in this wise, his eyes fell upon an im- mense placard which a sort of clown was carrying through the streets. This placard, which was in English, read as fol- lows: ACROBATIC JAPANESE TROUPE, HONOURABLE WILLIAM BATULCAR, PROPRIETOR, LAST REPRESENTATIONS, PRIOR TO THEIR DEPARTURE TO THE UNITED STATES, OF THE LONG NOSES! LONG NOSES! UNDER THE DIRECT PATRONAGE OF THE GOD TINGOU! GREAT ATTRACTION! ‘The United States!’ said Passepartout; ‘that’s just what I want!’ He followed the clown, and soon found himself once more in the Japanese quarter. A quarter of an hour later he stopped before a large cabin, adorned with several clus- ters of streamers, the exterior walls of which were designed 166 Around the World in 80 Days

to represent, in violent colours and without perspective, a company of jugglers. This was the Honourable William Batulcar’s establish- ment. That gentleman was a sort of Barnum, the director of a troupe of mountebanks, jugglers, clowns, acrobats, equi- librists, and gymnasts, who, according to the placard, was giving his last performances before leaving the Empire of the Sun for the States of the Union. Passepartout entered and asked for Mr. Batulcar, who straightway appeared in person. ‘What do you want?’ said he to Passepartout, whom he at first took for a native. ‘Would you like a servant, sir?’ asked Passepartout. ‘A servant!’ cried Mr. Batulcar, caressing the thick grey beard which hung from his chin. ‘I already have two who are obedient and faithful, have never left me, and serve me for their nourishment and here they are,’ added he, holding out his two robust arms, furrowed with veins as large as the strings of a bass-viol. ‘So I can be of no use to you?’ ‘None.’ ‘The devil! I should so like to cross the Pacific with you!’ ‘Ah!’ said the Honourable Mr. Batulcar. ‘You are no more a Japanese than I am a monkey! Who are you dressed up in that way?’ ‘A man dresses as he can.’ ‘That’s true. You are a Frenchman, aren’t you?’ ‘Yes; a Parisian of Paris.’ ‘Then you ought to know how to make grimaces?’ Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 167

‘Why,’ replied Passepartout, a little vexed that his na- tionality should cause this question, ‘we Frenchmen know how to make grimaces, it is true but not any better than the Americans do.’ ‘True. Well, if I can’t take you as a servant, I can as a clown. You see, my friend, in France they exhibit foreign clowns, and in foreign parts French clowns.’ ‘Ah!’ ‘You are pretty strong, eh?’ ‘Especially after a good meal.’ ‘And you can sing?’ ‘Yes,’ returned Passepartout, who had formerly been wont to sing in the streets. ‘But can you sing standing on your head, with a top spin- ning on your left foot, and a sabre balanced on your right?’ ‘Humph! I think so,’ replied Passepartout, recalling the exercises of his younger days. ‘Well, that’s enough,’ said the Honourable William Bat- ulcar. The engagement was concluded there and then. Passepartout had at last found something to do. He was engaged to act in the celebrated Japanese troupe. It was not a very dignified position, but within a week he would be on his way to San Francisco. The performance, so noisily announced by the Honour- able Mr. Batulcar, was to commence at three o’clock, and soon the deafening instruments of a Japanese orchestra re- sounded at the door. Passepartout, though he had not been able to study or rehearse a part, was designated to lend 168 Around the World in 80 Days

the aid of his sturdy shoulders in the great exhibition of the ‘human pyramid,’ executed by the Long Noses of the god Tingou. This ‘great attraction’ was to close the perfor- mance. Before three o’clock the large shed was invaded by the spectators, comprising Europeans and natives, Chinese and Japanese, men, women and children, who precipitat- ed themselves upon the narrow benches and into the boxes opposite the stage. The musicians took up a position inside, and were vigorously performing on their gongs, tam-tams, flutes, bones, tambourines, and immense drums. The performance was much like all acrobatic displays; but it must be confessed that the Japanese are the first equi- librists in the world. One, with a fan and some bits of paper, performed the graceful trick of the butterflies and the flowers; another traced in the air, with the odorous smoke of his pipe, a se- ries of blue words, which composed a compliment to the audience; while a third juggled with some lighted candles, which he extinguished successively as they passed his lips, and relit again without interrupting for an instant his jug- gling. Another reproduced the most singular combinations with a spinning-top; in his hands the revolving tops seemed to be animated with a life of their own in their intermina- ble whirling; they ran over pipe-stems, the edges of sabres, wires and even hairs stretched across the stage; they turned around on the edges of large glasses, crossed bamboo lad- ders, dispersed into all the corners, and produced strange musical effects by the combination of their various pitches Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 169

of tone. The jugglers tossed them in the air, threw them like shuttlecocks with wooden battledores, and yet they kept on spinning; they put them into their pockets, and took them out still whirling as before. It is useless to describe the astonishing performances of the acrobats and gymnasts. The turning on ladders, poles, balls, barrels, &c., was executed with wonderful precision. But the principal attraction was the exhibition of the Long Noses, a show to which Europe is as yet a stranger. The Long Noses form a peculiar company, under the di- rect patronage of the god Tingou. Attired after the fashion of the Middle Ages, they bore upon their shoulders a splen- did pair of wings; but what especially distinguished them was the long noses which were fastened to their faces, and the uses which they made of them. These noses were made of bamboo, and were five, six, and even ten feet long, some straight, others curved, some ribboned, and some having imitation warts upon them. It was upon these appendages, fixed tightly on their real noses, that they performed their gymnastic exercises. A dozen of these sectaries of Tingou lay flat upon their backs, while others, dressed to represent lightning-rods, came and frolicked on their noses, jumping from one to another, and performing the most skilful leap- ings and somersaults. As a last scene, a ‘human pyramid’ had been announced, in which fifty Long Noses were to represent the Car of Jug- gernaut. But, instead of forming a pyramid by mounting each other’s shoulders, the artists were to group themselves on top of the noses. It happened that the performer who had 170 Around the World in 80 Days

hitherto formed the base of the Car had quitted the troupe, and as, to fill this part, only strength and adroitness were necessary, Passepartout had been chosen to take his place. The poor fellow really felt sad when—melancholy rem- iniscence of his youth!—he donned his costume, adorned with vari-coloured wings, and fastened to his natural fea- ture a false nose six feet long. But he cheered up when he thought that this nose was winning him something to eat. He went upon the stage, and took his place beside the rest who were to compose the base of the Car of Jugger- naut. They all stretched themselves on the floor, their noses pointing to the ceiling. A second group of artists disposed themselves on these long appendages, then a third above these, then a fourth, until a human monument reaching to the very cornices of the theatre soon arose on top of the noses. This elicited loud applause, in the midst of which the orchestra was just striking up a deafening air, when the pyr- amid tottered, the balance was lost, one of the lower noses vanished from the pyramid, and the human monument was shattered like a castle built of cards! It was Passepartout’s fault. Abandoning his position, clearing the footlights without the aid of his wings, and, clambering up to the right-hand gallery, he fell at the feet of one of the spectators, crying, ‘Ah, my master! my master!’ ‘You here?’ ‘Myself.’ ‘Very well; then let us go to the steamer, young man!’ Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Passepartout passed through the lobby of the theatre to the outside, where they encoun- Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 171

tered the Honourable Mr. Batulcar, furious with rage. He demanded damages for the ‘breakage’ of the pyramid; and Phileas Fogg appeased him by giving him a handful of banknotes. At half-past six, the very hour of departure, Mr. Fogg and Aouda, followed by Passepartout, who in his hurry had retained his wings, and nose six feet long, stepped upon the American steamer. 172 Around the World in 80 Days

CHAPTER XXIV DURING WHICH MR. FOGG AND PARTY CROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN What happened when the pilot-boat came in sight of Shanghai will be easily guessed. The signals made by the Tankadere had been seen by the captain of the Yokoha- ma steamer, who, espying the flag at half-mast, had directed his course towards the little craft. Phileas Fogg, after pay- ing the stipulated price of his passage to John Busby, and rewarding that worthy with the additional sum of five hun- dred and fifty pounds, ascended the steamer with Aouda and Fix; and they started at once for Nagasaki and Yoko- hama. They reached their destination on the morning of the 14th of November. Phileas Fogg lost no time in going on board the Carnatic, where he learned, to Aouda’s great delight—and perhaps to his own, though he betrayed no emotion—that Passepartout, a Frenchman, had really ar- rived on her the day before. Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 173

The San Francisco steamer was announced to leave that very evening, and it became necessary to find Passepartout, if possible, without delay. Mr. Fogg applied in vain to the French and English consuls, and, after wandering through the streets a long time, began to despair of finding his miss- ing servant. Chance, or perhaps a kind of presentiment, at last led him into the Honourable Mr. Batulcar’s theatre. He certainly would not have recognised Passepartout in the ec- centric mountebank’s costume; but the latter, lying on his back, perceived his master in the gallery. He could not help starting, which so changed the position of his nose as to bring the ‘pyramid’ pell-mell upon the stage. All this Passepartout learned from Aouda, who recount- ed to him what had taken place on the voyage from Hong Kong to Shanghai on the Tankadere, in company with one Mr. Fix. Passepartout did not change countenance on hearing this name. He thought that the time had not yet arrived to divulge to his master what had taken place between the detective and himself; and, in the account he gave of his absence, he simply excused himself for having been over- taken by drunkenness, in smoking opium at a tavern in Hong Kong. Mr. Fogg heard this narrative coldly, without a word; and then furnished his man with funds necessary to ob- tain clothing more in harmony with his position. Within an hour the Frenchman had cut off his nose and parted with his wings, and retained nothing about him which recalled the sectary of the god Tingou. 174 Around the World in 80 Days

The steamer which was about to depart from Yokohama to San Francisco belonged to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and was named the General Grant. She was a large paddle-wheel steamer of two thousand five hundred tons; well equipped and very fast. The massive walking- beam rose and fell above the deck; at one end a piston-rod worked up and down; and at the other was a connecting- rod which, in changing the rectilinear motion to a circular one, was directly connected with the shaft of the paddles. The General Grant was rigged with three masts, giving a large capacity for sails, and thus materially aiding the steam power. By making twelve miles an hour, she would cross the ocean in twenty-one days. Phileas Fogg was therefore jus- tified in hoping that he would reach San Francisco by the 2nd of December, New York by the 11th, and London on the 20th—thus gaining several hours on the fatal date of the 21st of December. There was a full complement of passengers on board, among them English, many Americans, a large number of coolies on their way to California, and several East Indian officers, who were spending their vacation in making the tour of the world. Nothing of moment happened on the voyage; the steamer, sustained on its large paddles, rolled but little, and the Pacific almost justified its name. Mr. Fogg was as calm and taciturn as ever. His young companion felt herself more and more attached to him by other ties than gratitude; his silent but generous nature impressed her more than she thought; and it was almost unconsciously that she yielded to emotions which did not seem to have Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 175

the least effect upon her protector. Aouda took the keenest interest in his plans, and became impatient at any incident which seemed likely to retard his journey. She often chatted with Passepartout, who did not fail to perceive the state of the lady’s heart; and, being the most faithful of domestics, he never exhausted his eulogies of Phileas Fogg’s honesty, generosity, and devotion. He took pains to calm Aouda’s doubts of a successful termination of the journey, telling her that the most difficult part of it had passed, that now they were beyond the fantastic coun- tries of Japan and China, and were fairly on their way to civilised places again. A railway train from San Francisco to New York, and a transatlantic steamer from New York to Liverpool, would doubtless bring them to the end of this impossible journey round the world within the period agreed upon. On the ninth day after leaving Yokohama, Phileas Fogg had traversed exactly one half of the terrestrial globe. The General Grant passed, on the 23rd of November, the one hundred and eightieth meridian, and was at the very antip- odes of London. Mr. Fogg had, it is true, exhausted fifty-two of the eighty days in which he was to complete the tour, and there were only twenty-eight left. But, though he was only half-way by the difference of meridians, he had really gone over two-thirds of the whole journey; for he had been obliged to make long circuits from London to Aden, from Aden to Bombay, from Calcutta to Singapore, and from Singapore to Yokohama. Could he have followed without deviation the fiftieth parallel, which is that of London, the 176 Around the World in 80 Days

whole distance would only have been about twelve thou- sand miles; whereas he would be forced, by the irregular methods of locomotion, to traverse twenty-six thousand, of which he had, on the 23rd of November, accomplished sev- enteen thousand five hundred. And now the course was a straight one, and Fix was no longer there to put obstacles in their way! It happened also, on the 23rd of November, that Passep- artout made a joyful discovery. It will be remembered that the obstinate fellow had insisted on keeping his famous family watch at London time, and on regarding that of the countries he had passed through as quite false and unreli- able. Now, on this day, though he had not changed the hands, he found that his watch exactly agreed with the ship’s chro- nometers. His triumph was hilarious. He would have liked to know what Fix would say if he were aboard! ‘The rogue told me a lot of stories,’ repeated Passepartout, ‘about the meridians, the sun, and the moon! Moon, indeed! moonshine more likely! If one listened to that sort of people, a pretty sort of time one would keep! I was sure that the sun would some day regulate itself by my watch!’ Passepartout was ignorant that, if the face of his watch had been divided into twenty-four hours, like the Italian clocks, he would have no reason for exultation; for the hands of his watch would then, instead of as now indicating nine o’clock in the morning, indicate nine o’clock in the evening, that is, the twenty-first hour after midnight precisely the difference between London time and that of the one hun- dred and eightieth meridian. But if Fix had been able to Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 177

explain this purely physical effect, Passepartout would not have admitted, even if he had comprehended it. Moreover, if the detective had been on board at that moment, Passep- artout would have joined issue with him on a quite different subject, and in an entirely different manner. Where was Fix at that moment? He was actually on board the General Grant. On reaching Yokohama, the detective, leaving Mr. Fogg, whom he expected to meet again during the day, had re- paired at once to the English consulate, where he at last found the warrant of arrest. It had followed him from Bom- bay, and had come by the Carnatic, on which steamer he himself was supposed to be. Fix’s disappointment may be imagined when he reflected that the warrant was now useless. Mr. Fogg had left English ground, and it was now necessary to procure his extradition! ‘Well,’ thought Fix, after a moment of anger, ‘my warrant is not good here, but it will be in England. The rogue evi- dently intends to return to his own country, thinking he has thrown the police off his track. Good! I will follow him across the Atlantic. As for the money, heaven grant there may be some left! But the fellow has already spent in travel- ling, rewards, trials, bail, elephants, and all sorts of charges, more than five thousand pounds. Yet, after all, the Bank is rich!’ His course decided on, he went on board the General Grant, and was there when Mr. Fogg and Aouda arrived. To his utter amazement, he recognised Passepartout, de- spite his theatrical disguise. He quickly concealed himself 178 Around the World in 80 Days

in his cabin, to avoid an awkward explanation, and hoped— thanks to the number of passengers—to remain unperceived by Mr. Fogg’s servant. On that very day, however, he met Passepartout face to face on the forward deck. The latter, without a word, made a rush for him, grasped him by the throat, and, much to the amusement of a group of Americans, who immediately began to bet on him, administered to the detective a per- fect volley of blows, which proved the great superiority of French over English pugilistic skill. When Passepartout had finished, he found himself re- lieved and comforted. Fix got up in a somewhat rumpled condition, and, looking at his adversary, coldly said, ‘Have you done?’ ‘For this time—yes.’ ‘Then let me have a word with you.’ ‘But I—‘ ‘In your master’s interests.’ Passepartout seemed to be vanquished by Fix’s coolness, for he quietly followed him, and they sat down aside from the rest of the passengers. ‘You have given me a thrashing,’ said Fix. ‘Good, I ex- pected it. Now, listen to me. Up to this time I have been Mr. Fogg’s adversary. I am now in his game.’ ‘Aha!’ cried Passepartout; ‘you are convinced he is an honest man?’ ‘No,’ replied Fix coldly, ‘I think him a rascal. Sh! don’t budge, and let me speak. As long as Mr. Fogg was on Eng- lish ground, it was for my interest to detain him there until Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 179

my warrant of arrest arrived. I did everything I could to keep him back. I sent the Bombay priests after him, I got you intoxicated at Hong Kong, I separated you from him, and I made him miss the Yokohama steamer.’ Passepartout listened, with closed fists. ‘Now,’ resumed Fix, ‘Mr. Fogg seems to be going back to England. Well, I will follow him there. But hereafter I will do as much to keep obstacles out of his way as I have done up to this time to put them in his path. I’ve changed my game, you see, and simply because it was for my interest to change it. Your interest is the same as mine; for it is only in England that you will ascertain whether you are in the ser- vice of a criminal or an honest man.’ Passepartout listened very attentively to Fix, and was convinced that he spoke with entire good faith. ‘Are we friends?’ asked the detective. ‘Friends?—no,’ replied Passepartout; ‘but allies, perhaps. At the least sign of treason, however, I’ll twist your neck for you.’ ‘Agreed,’ said the detective quietly. Eleven days later, on the 3rd of December, the General Grant entered the bay of the Golden Gate, and reached San Francisco. Mr. Fogg had neither gained nor lost a single day. 180 Around the World in 80 Days

CHAPTER XXV IN WHICH A SLIGHT GLIMPSE IS HAD OF SAN FRANCISCO It was seven in the morning when Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Passepartout set foot upon the American continent, if this name can be given to the floating quay upon which they disembarked. These quays, rising and falling with the tide, thus facilitate the loading and unloading of ves- sels. Alongside them were clippers of all sizes, steamers of all nationalities, and the steamboats, with several decks ris- ing one above the other, which ply on the Sacramento and its tributaries. There were also heaped up the products of a commerce which extends to Mexico, Chili, Peru, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and all the Pacific islands. Passepartout, in his joy on reaching at last the Ameri- can continent, thought he would manifest it by executing a perilous vault in fine style; but, tumbling upon some worm- eaten planks, he fell through them. Put out of countenance by the manner in which he thus ‘set foot’ upon the New Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 181

World, he uttered a loud cry, which so frightened the innu- merable cormorants and pelicans that are always perched upon these movable quays, that they flew noisily away. Mr. Fogg, on reaching shore, proceeded to find out at what hour the first train left for New York, and learned that this was at six o’clock p.m.; he had, therefore, an entire day to spend in the Californian capital. Taking a carriage at a charge of three dollars, he and Aouda entered it, while Passepartout mounted the box beside the driver, and they set out for the International Hotel. From his exalted position Passepartout observed with much curiosity the wide streets, the low, evenly ranged houses, the Anglo-Saxon Gothic churches, the great docks, the palatial wooden and brick warehouses, the numerous conveyances, omnibuses, horse-cars, and upon the side- walks, not only Americans and Europeans, but Chinese and Indians. Passepartout was surprised at all he saw. San Francisco was no longer the legendary city of 1849—a city of banditti, assassins, and incendiaries, who had flocked hither in crowds in pursuit of plunder; a paradise of out- laws, where they gambled with gold-dust, a revolver in one hand and a bowie-knife in the other: it was now a great commercial emporium. The lofty tower of its City Hall overlooked the whole panorama of the streets and avenues, which cut each other at right-angles, and in the midst of which appeared pleas- ant, verdant squares, while beyond appeared the Chinese quarter, seemingly imported from the Celestial Empire in a toy-box. Sombreros and red shirts and plumed Indians 182 Around the World in 80 Days

were rarely to be seen; but there were silk hats and black coats everywhere worn by a multitude of nervously active, gentlemanly-looking men. Some of the streets— especially Montgomery Street, which is to San Francisco what Regent Street is to London, the Boulevard des Italiens to Paris, and Broadway to New York— were lined with splendid and spa- cious stores, which exposed in their windows the products of the entire world. When Passepartout reached the International Hotel, it did not seem to him as if he had left England at all. The ground floor of the hotel was occupied by a large bar, a sort of restaurant freely open to all passers-by, who might partake of dried beef, oyster soup, biscuits, and cheese, without taking out their purses. Payment was made only for the ale, porter, or sherry which was drunk. This seemed ‘very American’ to Passepartout. The hotel refresh- ment-rooms were comfortable, and Mr. Fogg and Aouda, installing themselves at a table, were abundantly served on diminutive plates by negroes of darkest hue. After breakfast, Mr. Fogg, accompanied by Aouda, start- ed for the English consulate to have his passport visaed. As he was going out, he met Passepartout, who asked him if it would not be well, before taking the train, to purchase some dozens of Enfield rifles and Colt’s revolvers. He had been listening to stories of attacks upon the trains by the Sioux and Pawnees. Mr. Fogg thought it a useless precau- tion, but told him to do as he thought best, and went on to the consulate. He had not proceeded two hundred steps, however, when, Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 183

‘by the greatest chance in the world,’ he met Fix. The detec- tive seemed wholly taken by surprise. What! Had Mr. Fogg and himself crossed the Pacific together, and not met on the steamer! At least Fix felt honoured to behold once more the gentleman to whom he owed so much, and, as his business recalled him to Europe, he should be delighted to continue the journey in such pleasant company. Mr. Fogg replied that the honour would be his; and the detective— who was determined not to lose sight of him— begged permission to accompany them in their walk about San Francisco—a request which Mr. Fogg readily granted. They soon found themselves in Montgomery Street, where a great crowd was collected; the side-walks, street, horsecar rails, the shop-doors, the windows of the hous- es, and even the roofs, were full of people. Men were going about carrying large posters, and flags and streamers were floating in the wind; while loud cries were heard on every hand. ‘Hurrah for Camerfield!’ ‘Hurrah for Mandiboy!’ It was a political meeting; at least so Fix conjectured, who said to Mr. Fogg, ‘Perhaps we had better not mingle with the crowd. There may be danger in it.’ ‘Yes,’ returned Mr. Fogg; ‘and blows, even if they are po- litical are still blows.’ Fix smiled at this remark; and, in order to be able to see without being jostled about, the party took up a position on the top of a flight of steps situated at the upper end of Montgomery Street. Opposite them, on the other side of the 184 Around the World in 80 Days

street, between a coal wharf and a petroleum warehouse, a large platform had been erected in the open air, towards which the current of the crowd seemed to be directed. For what purpose was this meeting? What was the oc- casion of this excited assemblage? Phileas Fogg could not imagine. Was it to nominate some high official—a governor or member of Congress? It was not improbable, so agitated was the multitude before them. Just at this moment there was an unusual stir in the human mass. All the hands were raised in the air. Some, tightly closed, seemed to disappear suddenly in the midst of the cries—an energetic way, no doubt, of casting a vote. The crowd swayed back, the banners and flags wavered, disappeared an instant, then reappeared in tatters. The un- dulations of the human surge reached the steps, while all the heads floundered on the surface like a sea agitated by a squall. Many of the black hats disappeared, and the greater part of the crowd seemed to have diminished in height. ‘It is evidently a meeting,’ said Fix, ‘and its object must be an exciting one. I should not wonder if it were about the Alabama, despite the fact that that question is settled.’ ‘Perhaps,’ replied Mr. Fogg, simply. ‘At least, there are two champions in presence of each other, the Honourable Mr. Camerfield and the Honourable Mr. Mandiboy.’ Aouda, leaning upon Mr. Fogg’s arm, observed the tu- multuous scene with surprise, while Fix asked a man near him what the cause of it all was. Before the man could re- ply, a fresh agitation arose; hurrahs and excited shouts were Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 185

heard; the staffs of the banners began to be used as offensive weapons; and fists flew about in every direction. Thumps were exchanged from the tops of the carriages and omni- buses which had been blocked up in the crowd. Boots and shoes went whirling through the air, and Mr. Fogg thought he even heard the crack of revolvers mingling in the din, the rout approached the stairway, and flowed over the lower step. One of the parties had evidently been repulsed; but the mere lookers-on could not tell whether Mandiboy or Cam- erfield had gained the upper hand. ‘It would be prudent for us to retire,’ said Fix, who was anxious that Mr. Fogg should not receive any injury, at least until they got back to London. ‘If there is any question about England in all this, and we were recognised, I fear it would go hard with us.’ ‘An English subject—’ began Mr. Fogg. He did not finish his sentence; for a terrific hubbub now arose on the terrace behind the flight of steps where they stood, and there were frantic shouts of, ‘Hurrah for Mandi- boy! Hip, hip, hurrah!’ It was a band of voters coming to the rescue of their al- lies, and taking the Camerfield forces in flank. Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Fix found themselves between two fires; it was too late to escape. The torrent of men, armed with loaded canes and sticks, was irresistible. Phileas Fogg and Fix were roughly hustled in their attempts to protect their fair com- panion; the former, as cool as ever, tried to defend himself with the weapons which nature has placed at the end of ev- ery Englishman’s arm, but in vain. A big brawny fellow with 186 Around the World in 80 Days

a red beard, flushed face, and broad shoulders, who seemed to be the chief of the band, raised his clenched fist to strike Mr. Fogg, whom he would have given a crushing blow, had not Fix rushed in and received it in his stead. An enormous bruise immediately made its appearance under the detec- tive’s silk hat, which was completely smashed in. ‘Yankee!’ exclaimed Mr. Fogg, darting a contemptuous look at the ruffian. ‘Englishman!’ returned the other. ‘We will meet again!’ ‘When you please.’ ‘What is your name?’ ‘Phileas Fogg. And yours?’ ‘Colonel Stamp Proctor.’ The human tide now swept by, after overturning Fix, who speedily got upon his feet again, though with tattered clothes. Happily, he was not seriously hurt. His travel- ling overcoat was divided into two unequal parts, and his trousers resembled those of certain Indians, which fit less compactly than they are easy to put on. Aouda had escaped unharmed, and Fix alone bore marks of the fray in his black and blue bruise. ‘Thanks,’ said Mr. Fogg to the detective, as soon as they were out of the crowd. ‘No thanks are necessary,’ replied. Fix; ‘but let us go.’ ‘Where?’ ‘To a tailor’s.’ Such a visit was, indeed, opportune. The clothing of both Mr. Fogg and Fix was in rags, as if they had themselves been actively engaged in the contest between Camerfield and Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 187

Mandiboy. An hour after, they were once more suitably at- tired, and with Aouda returned to the International Hotel. Passepartout was waiting for his master, armed with half a dozen six-barrelled revolvers. When he perceived Fix, he knit his brows; but Aouda having, in a few words, told him of their adventure, his countenance resumed its placid ex- pression. Fix evidently was no longer an enemy, but an ally; he was faithfully keeping his word. Dinner over, the coach which was to convey the passen- gers and their luggage to the station drew up to the door. As he was getting in, Mr. Fogg said to Fix, ‘You have not seen this Colonel Proctor again?’ ‘No.’ ‘I will come back to America to find him,’ said Phileas Fogg calmly. ‘It would not be right for an Englishman to permit himself to be treated in that way, without retaliat- ing.’ The detective smiled, but did not reply. It was clear that Mr. Fogg was one of those Englishmen who, while they do not tolerate duelling at home, fight abroad when their hon- our is attacked. At a quarter before six the travellers reached the station, and found the train ready to depart. As he was about to en- ter it, Mr. Fogg called a porter, and said to him: ‘My friend, was there not some trouble to-day in San Francisco?’ ‘It was a political meeting, sir,’ replied the porter. ‘But I thought there was a great deal of disturbance in the streets.’ ‘It was only a meeting assembled for an election.’ 188 Around the World in 80 Days

‘The election of a general-in-chief, no doubt?’ asked Mr. Fogg. ‘No, sir; of a justice of the peace.’ Phileas Fogg got into the train, which started off at full speed. Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 189

CHAPTER XXVI IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND PARTY TRAVEL BY THE PACIFIC RAILROAD ‘From ocean to ocean’—so say the Americans; and these four words compose the general designation of the ‘great trunk line’ which crosses the entire width of the United States. The Pacific Railroad is, however, really divided into two distinct lines: the Central Pacific, between San Francis- co and Ogden, and the Union Pacific, between Ogden and Omaha. Five main lines connect Omaha with New York. New York and San Francisco are thus united by an unin- terrupted metal ribbon, which measures no less than three thousand seven hundred and eighty-six miles. Between Omaha and the Pacific the railway crosses a territory which is still infested by Indians and wild beasts, and a large tract which the Mormons, after they were driven from Illinois in 1845, began to colonise. The journey from New York to San Francisco consumed, formerly, under the most favourable conditions, at least six 190 Around the World in 80 Days

months. It is now accomplished in seven days. It was in 1862 that, in spite of the Southern Members of Congress, who wished a more southerly route, it was decid- ed to lay the road between the forty-first and forty-second parallels. President Lincoln himself fixed the end of the line at Omaha, in Nebraska. The work was at once com- menced, and pursued with true American energy; nor did the rapidity with which it went on injuriously affect its good execution. The road grew, on the prairies, a mile and a half a day. A locomotive, running on the rails laid down the eve- ning before, brought the rails to be laid on the morrow, and advanced upon them as fast as they were put in position. The Pacific Railroad is joined by several branches in Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, and Oregon. On leaving Omaha, it passes along the left bank of the Platte River as far as the junction of its northern branch, follows its southern branch, crosses the Laramie territory and the Wahsatch Moun- tains, turns the Great Salt Lake, and reaches Salt Lake City, the Mormon capital, plunges into the Tuilla Valley, across the American Desert, Cedar and Humboldt Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and descends, via Sacramento, to the Pacific—its grade, even on the Rocky Mountains, never ex- ceeding one hundred and twelve feet to the mile. Such was the road to be traversed in seven days, which would enable Phileas Fogg—at least, so he hoped—to take the Atlantic steamer at New York on the 11th for Liverpool. The car which he occupied was a sort of long omnibus on eight wheels, and with no compartments in the interi- or. It was supplied with two rows of seats, perpendicular Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 191

to the direction of the train on either side of an aisle which conducted to the front and rear platforms. These platforms were found throughout the train, and the passengers were able to pass from one end of the train to the other. It was supplied with saloon cars, balcony cars, restaurants, and smoking-cars; theatre cars alone were wanting, and they will have these some day. Book and news dealers, sellers of edibles, drinkables, and cigars, who seemed to have plenty of customers, were continually circulating in the aisles. The train left Oakland station at six o’clock. It was al- ready night, cold and cheerless, the heavens being overcast with clouds which seemed to threaten snow. The train did not proceed rapidly; counting the stoppages, it did not run more than twenty miles an hour, which was a sufficient speed, however, to enable it to reach Omaha within its des- ignated time. There was but little conversation in the car, and soon many of the passengers were overcome with sleep. Passep- artout found himself beside the detective; but he did not talk to him. After recent events, their relations with each other had grown somewhat cold; there could no longer be mutual sympathy or intimacy between them. Fix’s manner had not changed; but Passepartout was very reserved, and ready to strangle his former friend on the slightest provo- cation. Snow began to fall an hour after they started, a fine snow, however, which happily could not obstruct the train; noth- ing could be seen from the windows but a vast, white sheet, 192 Around the World in 80 Days

against which the smoke of the locomotive had a greyish aspect. At eight o’clock a steward entered the car and announced that the time for going to bed had arrived; and in a few minutes the car was transformed into a dormitory. The backs of the seats were thrown back, bedsteads carefully packed were rolled out by an ingenious system, berths were suddenly improvised, and each traveller had soon at his dis- position a comfortable bed, protected from curious eyes by thick curtains. The sheets were clean and the pillows soft. It only remained to go to bed and sleep which everybody did— while the train sped on across the State of California. The country between San Francisco and Sacramento is not very hilly. The Central Pacific, taking Sacramento for its starting-point, extends eastward to meet the road from Omaha. The line from San Francisco to Sacramento runs in a north-easterly direction, along the American River, which empties into San Pablo Bay. The one hundred and twenty miles between these cities were accomplished in six hours, and towards midnight, while fast asleep, the travel- lers passed through Sacramento; so that they saw nothing of that important place, the seat of the State government, with its fine quays, its broad streets, its noble hotels, squares, and churches. The train, on leaving Sacramento, and passing the junc- tion, Roclin, Auburn, and Colfax, entered the range of the Sierra Nevada. ‘Cisco was reached at seven in the morning; and an hour later the dormitory was transformed into an ordinary car, and the travellers could observe the pictur- Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 193

esque beauties of the mountain region through which they were steaming. The railway track wound in and out among the passes, now approaching the mountain-sides, now sus- pended over precipices, avoiding abrupt angles by bold curves, plunging into narrow defiles, which seemed to have no outlet. The locomotive, its great funnel emitting a weird light, with its sharp bell, and its cow-catcher extended like a spur, mingled its shrieks and bellowings with the noise of torrents and cascades, and twined its smoke among the branches of the gigantic pines. There were few or no bridges or tunnels on the route. The railway turned around the sides of the mountains, and did not attempt to violate nature by taking the shortest cut from one point to another. The train entered the State of Nevada through the Car- son Valley about nine o’clock, going always northeasterly; and at midday reached Reno, where there was a delay of twenty minutes for breakfast. From this point the road, running along Humboldt Riv- er, passed northward for several miles by its banks; then it turned eastward, and kept by the river until it reached the Humboldt Range, nearly at the extreme eastern limit of Ne- vada. Having breakfasted, Mr. Fogg and his companions re- sumed their places in the car, and observed the varied landscape which unfolded itself as they passed along the vast prairies, the mountains lining the horizon, and the creeks, with their frothy, foaming streams. Sometimes a great herd of buffaloes, massing together in the distance, seemed like 194 Around the World in 80 Days

a moveable dam. These innumerable multitudes of rumi- nating beasts often form an insurmountable obstacle to the passage of the trains; thousands of them have been seen passing over the track for hours together, in compact ranks. The locomotive is then forced to stop and wait till the road is once more clear. This happened, indeed, to the train in which Mr. Fogg was travelling. About twelve o’clock a troop of ten or twelve thousand head of buffalo encumbered the track. The loco- motive, slackening its speed, tried to clear the way with its cow-catcher; but the mass of animals was too great. The buf- faloes marched along with a tranquil gait, uttering now and then deafening bellowings. There was no use of interrupt- ing them, for, having taken a particular direction, nothing can moderate and change their course; it is a torrent of liv- ing flesh which no dam could contain. The travellers gazed on this curious spectacle from the platforms; but Phileas Fogg, who had the most reason of all to be in a hurry, remained in his seat, and waited philo- sophically until it should please the buffaloes to get out of the way. Passepartout was furious at the delay they occasioned, and longed to discharge his arsenal of revolvers upon them. ‘What a country!’ cried he. ‘Mere cattle stop the trains, and go by in a procession, just as if they were not impeding travel! Parbleu! I should like to know if Mr. Fogg foresaw this mishap in his programme! And here’s an engineer who doesn’t dare to run the locomotive into this herd of beasts!’ The engineer did not try to overcome the obstacle, and Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 195

he was wise. He would have crushed the first buffaloes, no doubt, with the cow-catcher; but the locomotive, however powerful, would soon have been checked, the train would inevitably have been thrown off the track, and would then have been helpless. The best course was to wait patiently, and regain the lost time by greater speed when the obstacle was removed. The procession of buffaloes lasted three full hours, and it was night before the track was clear. The last ranks of the herd were now passing over the rails, while the first had already disappeared below the southern horizon. It was eight o’clock when the train passed through the defiles of the Humboldt Range, and half-past nine when it penetrated Utah, the region of the Great Salt Lake, the sin- gular colony of the Mormons. 196 Around the World in 80 Days

CHAPTER XXVII IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT UNDERGOES, AT A SPEED OF TWENTY MILES AN HOUR, A COURSE OF MORMON HISTORY During the night of the 5th of December, the train ran south-easterly for about fifty miles; then rose an equal distance in a north-easterly direction, towards the Great Salt Lake. Passepartout, about nine o’clock, went out upon the plat- form to take the air. The weather was cold, the heavens grey, but it was not snowing. The sun’s disc, enlarged by the mist, seemed an enormous ring of gold, and Passepartout was amusing himself by calculating its value in pounds ster- ling, when he was diverted from this interesting study by a strange-looking personage who made his appearance on the platform. Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 197

This personage, who had taken the train at Elko, was tall and dark, with black moustache, black stockings, a black silk hat, a black waistcoat, black trousers, a white cravat, and dogskin gloves. He might have been taken for a clergy- man. He went from one end of the train to the other, and affixed to the door of each car a notice written in manu- script. Passepartout approached and read one of these notices, which stated that Elder William Hitch, Mormon mission- ary, taking advantage of his presence on train No. 48, would deliver a lecture on Mormonism in car No. 117, from eleven to twelve o’clock; and that he invited all who were desirous of being instructed concerning the mysteries of the religion of the ‘Latter Day Saints’ to attend. ‘I’ll go,’ said Passepartout to himself. He knew nothing of Mormonism except the custom of polygamy, which is its foundation. The news quickly spread through the train, which con- tained about one hundred passengers, thirty of whom, at most, attracted by the notice, ensconced themselves in car No. 117. Passepartout took one of the front seats. Neither Mr. Fogg nor Fix cared to attend. At the appointed hour Elder William Hitch rose, and, in an irritated voice, as if he had already been contradicted, said, ‘I tell you that Joe Smith is a martyr, that his brother Hiram is a martyr, and that the persecutions of the United States Government against the prophets will also make a martyr of Brigham Young. Who dares to say the contrary?’ No one ventured to gainsay the missionary, whose excit- 198 Around the World in 80 Days

ed tone contrasted curiously with his naturally calm visage. No doubt his anger arose from the hardships to which the Mormons were actually subjected. The government had just succeeded, with some difficulty, in reducing these indepen- dent fanatics to its rule. It had made itself master of Utah, and subjected that territory to the laws of the Union, after imprisoning Brigham Young on a charge of rebellion and polygamy. The disciples of the prophet had since redoubled their efforts, and resisted, by words at least, the authority of Congress. Elder Hitch, as is seen, was trying to make pros- elytes on the very railway trains. Then, emphasising his words with his loud voice and fre- quent gestures, he related the history of the Mormons from Biblical times: how that, in Israel, a Mormon prophet of the tribe of Joseph published the annals of the new religion, and bequeathed them to his son Mormon; how, many centuries later, a translation of this precious book, which was written in Egyptian, was made by Joseph Smith, junior, a Vermont farmer, who revealed himself as a mystical prophet in 1825; and how, in short, the celestial messenger appeared to him in an illuminated forest, and gave him the annals of the Lord. Several of the audience, not being much interested in the missionary’s narrative, here left the car; but Elder Hitch, continuing his lecture, related how Smith, junior, with his father, two brothers, and a few disciples, founded the church of the ‘Latter Day Saints,’ which, adopted not only in America, but in England, Norway and Sweden, and Ger- many, counts many artisans, as well as men engaged in the Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 199

liberal professions, among its members; how a colony was established in Ohio, a temple erected there at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars, and a town built at Kirkland; how Smith became an enterprising banker, and received from a simple mummy showman a papyrus scroll written by Abraham and several famous Egyptians. The Elder’s story became somewhat wearisome, and his audience grew gradually less, until it was reduced to twenty passengers. But this did not disconcert the enthusiast, who proceeded with the story of Joseph Smith’s bankruptcy in 1837, and how his ruined creditors gave him a coat of tar and feathers; his reappearance some years afterwards, more honourable and honoured than ever, at Independence, Mis- souri, the chief of a flourishing colony of three thousand disciples, and his pursuit thence by outraged Gentiles, and retirement into the Far West. Ten hearers only were now left, among them honest Passepartout, who was listening with all his ears. Thus he learned that, after long persecutions, Smith reappeared in Illinois, and in 1839 founded a community at Nauvoo, on the Mississippi, numbering twenty-five thousand souls, of which he became mayor, chief justice, and general-in- chief; that he announced himself, in 1843, as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States; and that finally, being drawn into ambuscade at Carthage, he was thrown into prison, and assassinated by a band of men disguised in masks. Passepartout was now the only person left in the car, and the Elder, looking him full in the face, reminded him that, 200 Around the World in 80 Days